Beverages such as wines, fruit juices, dairy beverages, malt beverages and the like have traditionally been stored and transported in various types of bottles or cans. The opening of bottled or canned beverages exposes the contents to air, and the contained beverage usually must be consumed relatively quickly to prevent spoilage. In particular bottled wine, once opened, will typically undergo oxidation that can result in unwanted change in taste, aroma, color, or other properties.
Wine has a long tradition of being stored in corked glass bottles. This storage technique was many years ago the best available for preserving wine. A much more effective way of storing wine has more recently been offered by collapsible containers or bags, with a valve or spigot in the bag providing for egress of the beverage and preventing introduction of air to the beverage remaining in the container. As beverage is removed from the bag via the spigot, the bag collapses. Wine consumers, due to the aforementioned tradition, have resisted wine containers other than corked glass bottles. The advantages inherent in collapsible bag containers, however, have overcome consumer prejudice and the market for bagged wines is rapidly increasing.
Bagged beverages are typically stored in a box or like container, as the bags themselves are not conveniently handled. Containers for bagged liquids must be sufficiently robust to support the relatively large weight of the contained liquid during transportation and storage. Conventional box designs often do not lend themselves to use with bagged beverages, as the boxes are prone to collapse when subject to relatively small force. Further, the flap closure arrangement of conventional box containers usually presents sharp flap edges on both the inside and outside surfaces of the container. The inside flap edges create a risk of rupture to the bag within the container, and the outside edges create a risk of injury to persons handling the containers. Still further, the flap closure arrangements of conventional boxes allow insects to penetrate into the container. The present invention overcomes these deficiencies.